Our working experience includes more than a decade of general contracting in home repairs, foreclosure revitalization, and general landscape maintenance. We’ve seen many air compressors listed as being “contractor grade” falling far short of what we need the unit to do. Industrial Air has equipped their contractor grade air compressor with a 5 HP Honday engine and a pontoon style tank system of two 2 gallon tanks to provide results.
Will it stand up to the demands we’re going to place on it? We used this compressor over the course of several jobs and here are the key points we feel are important to talk about with this particular model.
- The tool performance is excellent. This compressor has a maximum SCFM at 90 PSI of 5. At 40 PSI, the SCFM is 6.9. This means you’re going to be able to use most of your air tools, and since this is a gas-powered engine, you can take this compressor just about anywhere to work. That frees up our generator for other tools that we might need to operate as we’re working throughout the day.
- The patented cooling system is a wonderful addition. Industrial Air tells us that the goal of their patented two-piece cooling system is to extend the life of the pump. We’ll find out if that is true with continued use. What we can say is that you don’t have to worry as much about how long you’re using this compressor since it doesn’t overheat as quickly as most other models. This means you can power up to the 155 PSI max. rating with confidence that you can complete the task you’ve started.
- It is well balanced. When you’re preparing for a job, loading up your standard air compressor can really be a pain in the neck. And the back. And the knees. For one of our compressors, we even had to buy ramps just so we could get it into the truck. At 74 pounds, the pontoon design of this Industrial Air model gives the air compressor a nice balance for loading and unloading. We can’t tell you how nice it is not to have to wrestle with an air compressor any more.
- It can power more than one tool at a time. Some air compressors say that they can handle two air tools at the same time. This Industrial Air contractor grade compressor can actually do it without robbing you of the tool’s performance. Two framing guns is not a problem with this machine. We built a hand rail for a deck in less than 30 minutes thanks to what this air compressor can do. Best of all, even though it only holds a couple gallons of fuel, that will last you most of the day so you’re not stuck with extra down time.
- The oil-less compressor will give you confidence. When you bring in a couple of laborers for a big job, you’ve got to watch them closely when they use oil-lubricated compressors because far too often they don’t take care of them correctly. Those worries go away with this design. Most oil-less compressors don’t have the durability of oil-lubricated ones, but this model can compete with almost anything on the market today.
The tank valves are a little awkward to use. It’s possible to damage them if you’re not careful with this unit. Otherwise the Industrial Air contractor grade air compressor is a superior-level compressor for your needs. If you have field work that needs to get done, then we believe you’re going to love this compressor as much as we do.
